Winning combination of themes: high concentration of decision-makers at RecyclingAKTIV and TiefbauLIVE

07-Sep-2019

Winning combination of themes: high concentration of decision-makers at RecyclingAKTIV and TiefbauLIVE

Final press report

Between 5 and 7 September, Karlsruhe Trade Fair Centre transformed itself into a mobile recycling centre and walk-in construction site, with heavyweight granulating lines, powerful excavators and wheel loaders demonstrating their performance strength. Wood and metal was shredded, construction waste screened, building pits dug and road surfaces compressed. Over the three trade fair days, a total of 3,000 tonnes of material was moved and processed. 94 percent of trade visitors were very satisfied with the presentation and quality of exhibitors.

Close ties between the two sectors

For the second time, the recycling and construction sectors joined forces for the RecyclingAKTIV and TiefbauLIVE demonstration trade fairs. Around 8,500 visitors (2017: 7,500) had the chance to see at first hand the efficiency and performance of the approximately 1,500 machines and equipment on offer and to compare the products of various manufacturers at the many live demonstrations.

Credit: Messe Karlsruhe / Jens Arbogast

As Britta Wirtz, Managing Director of Messe Karlsruhe, confirms: “The trade fair pairing concept is proving its worth: in our visitor survey, 59 percent of visitors stated that they had come specifically because of the combination of recycling and civil engineering.” Factors linking the two demonstration trade fairs include not only add-on equipment but also material transport and handling and construction waste recycling.

Credit: Messe Karlsruhe / Jens Arbogast

One of the exhibitors from this area is construction equipment provider Kurz Aufbereitungsanlagen. Sales Manager Harald Weber would be willing to take part in the demonstrations again at any time: “Karlsruhe Trade Fair Centre is ideal for live demonstrations – the infrastructure is great and the supply of materials runs like clockwork. Our demonstrations attract visitors to our stand, allowing us to generate an incredibly high number of queries and also to effect direct sales. As the recycling and civil engineering sectors are growing closer together, we are able to reach two important visitor target groups at RecyclingAKTIV and TiefbauLIVE.”

238 exhibitors from 15 countries

A total of 238 manufacturers and retailers came to Karlsruhe to present their machines and equipment to a professional audience.

Credit: Messe Karlsruhe / Jens Arbogast

As Claudia Nötzelmann, the project manager overseeing the two trade fairs, notes: “That is 18 percent more exhibitors than the last time. We are particularly proud of the fact that the percentage of international exhibitors has been increased to 20 percent – which is seven percent up on the last event.” Exhibitors from 15 countries were present, including all of Germany’s neighbouring countries as well as Italy, the UK, Finland and Sweden. In addition, many associations and professional groups used the trade fair pairing as an opportunity to organise training events, working groups and conferences.

Trade visitors in management positions

The international orientation of the demonstration trade fairs was also evident on the visitor side, as can be seen from the survey, which indicated that visitors came from all over Germany and from 18 different countries.

Credit: Messe Karlsruhe / Jürgen Rösner

Pia Steiner from Lindner-Recyclingtech in Austria described the demonstrations on the special theme areas as “an ideal means of presenting our products” and praised the high international component among visitors: “We use the trade fair to cultivate existing customer contacts and make new ones – in fact, we had more international visitors to our stand than expected, for example from Estonia, Hungary and Serbia.” The excellent opportunity for gaining new customers can also be seen in the visitor survey, since 65 percent of trade fair participants were visiting RecyclingAKTIV and TiefbauLIVE for the first time.

Credit: Messe Karlsruhe / Jens Arbogast

As Matthias Stasius from wheeled excavator specialists Liebherr-Hydraulikbagger says: “We were positively surprised by the number and above all by the quality of visitors. We came to the trade fair with the aim of raising the profile of our add-on tools in the construction and recycling sectors – and that is exactly what we managed to do in Karlsruhe.” As the visitor survey confirms, 98 percent of visitors attended the trade fairs out of professional interest. Another important development is that the proportion of decision-makers has increased: one third of visitors were management board members or senior executives, while another third consisted of company owners and independent entrepreneurs.

Credit: Messe Karlsruhe / Jürgen Rösner

Extensive demonstration areas were set up on the 80,000 m² open-air exhibition area at RecyclingAKTIV and TiefbauLIVE. 29 percent of exhibitors showed their products in action – either at their own stand or on one of the four special theme areas: Mobile Scrap & Metal Yard, Wood & Biomass and the demonstration.

building sites for road and path construction and for canalisation. Here alone, there were ten hours of live demonstrations every day.

Tours touch on legal changes and digitalisation trend

One highlight of the supporting programme – in addition to the special theme areas – was the newly introduced guided tours given by experts and covering topics such as digitalisation in road construction, legal requirements regarding substitute building materials, and garden and landscape construction.

Credit: Messe Karlsruhe / Alex Fedorov

In addition to the open-air exhibition area, exhibitors had a chance to present their portfolio in the adjacent hall areas, which measure 6,500 square metres in all. As Nedim Cetin, General Manager of Vp GmbH Groundforce, sums up: “With our stand, we were very well positioned in the hall area with plenty of visitor traffic. We particularly liked the visitor tours that allowed us to explain our hydraulic shoring system to knowledgeable participants in just a few minutes. All in all, we are extremely satisfied with TiefbauLIVE.”

Swiss company Gipo was also thoroughly satisfied, as Sales Manager Marc Glarner attests: “My sales team were run off their feet all day, so we were very pleased with both the quality and the quantity of customers – and with the end result, as we sold quite a few machines. We would also like to compliment the very attentive trade fair management on its excellent work, be it with the set-up, layout planning, logistics or infrastructural supply, all of which was extremely professional.”

Between 10 and 12 June 2021, Karlsruhe Trade Fair Centre will once again be playing host to RecyclingAKTIV (demonstration trade fair for waste removal and recycling) and TiefbauLIVE (demonstration trade fair for road construction and civil engineering).